Podarcis liolepis - Catalonian Wall Lizard
The Catalonian Wall Lizard is a quite adaptable, well climbing species which can be found in various habitats and even frequently within human settlements. Although being a (sub-)Mediterranean species, it is able to inhabit mountain habitats with cold winters up to 2000 m altitude (Pyrenees, Sistema Ibérico, Sistema Bético).
Being such a "generalist", its distribution ranges from the French Rhône-Valley in the north to the Spanish Sierra Nevada in the south. It shows a great variability which has led to the description of several subspecies:
- Podarcis liolepis cebennensis has been described for southern France. But geographic delimination towards the nominate subspecies is doubtful.
- The Spanish Columbretes Archipelago is populated by the dark blotched subspecies atratus. However, this might be just an insular morph of the nominate subspecies.
- Subspecies sebastiani has been described for the Basque Country area. Presumably, this may be just an ecotype of the nominate subspecies.
- In the south of the range, additional - so far undescribed - colour morphs occur (see below).
With regard to this, some intra-specific taxonomic revision might be required.
In north of the range, Podarcis liolepis has contact zones with Podarcis guadarramae. This species lacks of blue outer ventral scales which frequently occur in males of Podarcis liolepis. Podarcis liolepis may also co-occur with Podarcis muralis (e.g. Penyagolosa, E / Castellón) but it is smaller, more slender und usually shows a lighter colouration than the latter one.
Southern colour morphs
In the southern part of the range, two morphs can be found:
- In the coastal limestone mountains of the northern Alicante Province a „green morph“ occurs with males frequently showing bright green colours.
- In the Baetic Mountain Range (provinces of Albacete, Murcia, Jaén and Granada), Podarcis liolepis is restricted to mountain habitats above 1000 m.
In its southern range, Podarcis liolepis has contact zones with the following species:
- Podarcis hispanicus is smaller and shows no bluish outer ventral scales. Whereas Podarcis hispanicus lives in warm and dry habitats, it gets replaced by Podarcis liolepis in higher altitudes with cooler, more humid climate.
- Podarcis virescens can be identified by frequently showing a yellow underside of the tail.
- In the northern slopes of Sierra Nevada, distinguishing between Podarcis liolepis and Podarcis vaucheri by external characters may be challenging or rather impossible. These southernmost populations are hardly explored, so far.
